e-beam lithography precision at
optical lithography speed:
Complementary lithography breaks
the NGL logjam
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David K. Lam |
September 6, 2011 -- What
is semiconductor lithography's
current state? Cost is rising,
debate is raging, and a solution is
wanting. The chip manufacturing
industry has long expected optical
lithography to reach resolution
limits, eventually, as IC features
shrink below 193nm, the wavelength
of ArF lithography. Since 1999,
program after program has sought a
new lithography with extreme
ultraviolet (EUV) light at 13.5nm to
enable continued scaling of ICs.
While 193nm lithography overcame a
multitude of sub-wavelength
patterning challenges,
optical-as-usual became increasingly
complex and costly. EUV was
designated as the next-generation
lithography (NGL) for high-volume
manufacturing (HVM)....
...EBL, when used to complement
optical lithography, is called
CEBL (complementary e-beam
lithography). Multibeam's CEBL
vector-scans shaped beams for
cutting in critical layers,
exploiting e-beam's strength in
resolution and avoiding its weakness
in speed. The technology eliminates
the magnetic field; e-beam columns
are small and beam deflection is
fast. A multi-column module delivers
five wafers per hour. Each column is
equipped with an SEM for in-situ,
in-process e-beam registration to
attain best alignment. CEBL needs no
masks, further reducing CoO.
Optimized for cutting, this
technology plays a limited but
crucial role.
Courtesy of:
Debra Vogler
Sr. Technical Editor
Photovoltaics World
Solid State
Technology/Advanced Packaging
Small Times
To access the full article, please
go to:
http://www.electroiq.com/content/eiq/en/articles/sst/2011/09/e-beam-lithography-precision-at-optical-lithography-speed-complementary-lithography.html
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